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Ramphiculus

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Ramphiculus
Sula fruit dove Ramphiculus mangoliensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Subfamily: Ptilinopinae
Genus: Ramphiculus
Bonaparte, 1854
Type species
Ptilonopus occipitalis
Gray, 1844

Ramphiculus is a genus of fruit doves in the family Columbidae. They are restricted to the Philippines and Sulawesi apart from the Jambu fruit dove that occurs on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. These are colourful frugivorous doves that are found in forests and woodlands.

Taxonomy

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The genus Ramphiculus was introduced in 1854 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte who listed two species but did not specify a type species.[1] In 1855 the English zoologist George Gray designated the type as Ptilonopus occipitalis Gray GR, 1844, the yellow-breasted fruit dove.[2] The genus name is a diminutive of the Ancient Greek ῥαμφη/rhamphē meaning "bill".[3]

The species placed in this genus were formerly placed in the genus Ptilinopus. A molecular genetic study published in 2014 found that the fruit dove genus Ptilinopus was paraphyletic.[4] In a step towards creating monophyletic genera, two species were moved from Ptilinopus to Megaloprepia and nine species were moved from Ptilinopus to Ramphiculus.[5]

Species

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The genus contains 9 species.[5]

Image Common name Scientific name Distribution
Yellow-breasted fruit dove Ramphiculus occipitalis Philippines (except Palawan group and Sulu Archipelago)
Flame-breasted fruit dove Ramphiculus marchei montane forest of Luzon (northern Philippines)
Cream-breasted fruit dove Ramphiculus merrilli Luzon group (north Philippines)
Red-eared fruit dove Ramphiculus fischeri montane Sulawesi
Jambu fruit dove Ramphiculus jambu peninsular Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and western Java
Oberholser's fruit dove Ramphiculus gularis lowland forest of Sulawesi
Banggai fruit dove Ramphiculus subgularis Peleng and Banggai Islands, in Banggai Island (off eastern Sulawesi)
Sula fruit dove Ramphiculus mangoliensis Sula Islands (Taliabu, Seho, and Mangole)
Black-chinned fruit dove Ramphiculus leclancheri Philippines and Taiwan

References

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  1. ^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1854). "Coup d'oeil sur les pigeons". Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 39: 869–880 [878].
  2. ^ Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 97.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. "Ramphiculus". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  4. ^ Cibois, A.; Thibault, J.-C.; Bonillo, C.; Filardi, C.E.; Watling, D.; Pasquet, E. (2014). "Phylogeny and biogeography of the fruit doves (Aves: Columbidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 70: 442–453. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2013.08.019.
  5. ^ a b AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
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